1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the manufacture of furniture, in general, and in particular to the manufacture of hollow core glue-laminated (gluelam) wood and bamboo furniture articles.
2. Related Art
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, prior art solid core furniture articles, such as desks or tables, that use side plates acting as vertical support legs typically include two structures, viz., a main panel 1 and two side panels 2 disposed vertically with respect to the main panel 1 and coupled to its opposite ends, all of which are made of solid wood or solid glue-laminated or “engineered” bamboo. As illustrated in FIG. 2, in higher quality designs, the main panel 1 and side panels 2 may be joined to each other by a mortise and tenon joint.
Furniture incorporating such structure results in a substantial waste of the wood or bamboo construction materials, and is usually too heavy to be moved conveniently as a entire set. Additionally, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 6, each of the main panel 1 and side panels 2 of the furniture typically comprises an artificial board (e.g., a medium density fiber board, particle board, chip board, or the like) used as a substrate, on which decorative sheets are typically laminated. These decorative sheets may comprise wood or bamboo veneers, papers printed with wood grain graphics, melamine impregnated papers, or the like.
Further, in some less expensive designs, the main panel 1 and side panels 2 are typically butt-joined, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, using metal or plastic hardware connectors and fasteners, rather than by mortise and tenon joints. While such construction is suitable for portable take apart panel furniture, the furniture remains heavy because of its solid construction, and is not environmentally friendly because of its high formaldehyde content, due to the high glue content of the artificial fiber or particle board substrates used therein. Also, such structures tend to be flimsy, easy to loosen, nondurable, and therefore, impractical.